A Chinese traditional lion dance was staged at the Milan Malpensa airport on Thursday to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival.

The lions performed at the check-in area and were greeted by Chinese Consul General in Milan Liao Juhua, local authorities as well as representatives of Air China and Cathay Pacific Airways.

The Chief Operating Officer of Milan's airports management firm SEA, Giulio De Metrio, said the celebrations were "a signal of the importance of Chinese airline companies and Chinese passengers for Milan Malpensa."

"Milan Malpensa is being completely renovated in view of the Milan Expo (May 1 to Oct. 31, 2015), and building a bridge with China is fundamental for us," he told Xinhua.

A new shopping area, one of the largest in Europe, will be accessible to all passengers whether traveling to a Schengen or a non-Schengen destination, while security services and infrastructures throughout the airport will be also upgraded.

An important objective of Milan Malpensa, De Metrio stressed, was to become "the favored airport in Europe for Chinese passengers who come to visit Italy."

Thursday's celebrations, he added, were "an approach to China's culture to better welcome Chinese passengers and make Milan Malpensa a Chinese friendly airport."

A "Chinese Friendly Airport" project was recently launched to make Milan Malpensa more receptive to Chinese travelers en route to and from Milan.

Some of the initiatives to improve the travel experience of Chinese tourists included the installation of signage in Chinese throughout the airport, an app in Chinese, Chinese shoppers helpers and collaboration with specialized tour operators.

Direct flights from Milan Malpensa to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong are run by Air China and Cathay Pacific Airways. Operations out of these hubs allow travelers to connect to other destinations in China.

"Air China is China's flag carrier, able to grant comfortable connections to several destinations thanks to an extensive domestic and international network and continuous increase of new routes," Li Yu, the General Manager of Air China Milan Office, said.

Milan Malpensa was developing negotiations with Air China to intensify frequency of flights. "Next month, direct flights to Shanghai will become daily and direct flights to Beijing will rise from three to five a week," Li said.

The Italian airport has also started contacts with China Southern, China Eastern and Hainan Airlines to start new routes.

According to data from Milan Malpensa, passenger traffic to and from China constantly increased from 269,000 in 2008 to 751,000 last year.

Source: Xinhua